Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Dahlia hybrida cultivar Melody Mambo.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dahlia plant, botanically known as Dahlia hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Melody Mamboxe2x80x99.
The new Dahlia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Lisse, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new potted Dahlia cultivars with compact plant habit, freely branching growth habit, early and freely flowering habit, decorative inflorescence form, attractive ray floret coloration, and good postproduction longevity and garden performance.
The new Dahlia originated from a cross pollination made by the Inventor during the summer of 1997 of the Dahlia hybrida Gallery Art Deco, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,525, as the female, or seed, parent with the Dahlia hybrida cultivar Melody Bolero, disclosed in U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 09/552,707, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Dahlia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross pollination grown in a controlled environment in Lisse, The Netherlands, in the summer of 1998.
Asexual reproduction of the new Dahlia by cuttings was first conducted in Lisse, The Netherlands in February, 1999. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Dahlia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Melody Mambo has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Melody Mamboxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Melody Mamboxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Dahlia cultivar:
1. Upright and outwardly spreading plant habit.
2. Freely branching growth habit.
3. Early and freely flowering habit.
4. Decorative inflorescence form.
5. Large inflorescences with dark red-colored ray florets.
6. Good postproduction longevity and garden performance.
Plants of the new Dahlia differ primarily from plants of the female parent, the cultivar Gallery Art Deco in leaf color, inflorescence form and ray floret color. Plants of the new Dahlia differ primarily from plants of the male parent, the cultivar Melody Bolero in plant size, leaf color, inflorescence form and ray floret color.
Plants of the new Dahlia can be compared to plants of the cultivar Heatwave, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Lisse, The Netherlands, plants of the new Dahlia differed from plants of the cultivar Heatwave in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Dahlia were more compact and more freely branching than plants of the cultivar Heatwave.
2. Plants of the new Dahlia flowered earlier than plants of the cultivar Heatwave.
3. Ray floret color of plants of the new Dahlia was darker red than ray floret color of plants of the cultivar Heatwave.